Bomb blast injures 41 in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD, June 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 41 people were injured on Friday evening in a bomb blast that hit a shrine in Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, officials said.

Rescue teams shifted 28 injured to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital, six wounded to the Polyclinic Hospital of Islamabad and seven to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital in the adjacent city of Rawalpindi.

Spokesperson of the PIMS Hospital, Aisha, said at least six of the wounded people were in critical condition who were being treated in operation theaters.

Station House Officer of Shahzad Town police station said the incident took place at 22:25 local time when the bomb blast ripped through a gathering of people in a shrine in Pindorian area of Islamabad and so far left at least 41 people injured.

According to the bomb disposal squad (BDS), the bomb was planted alongside the outer wall of the shrine and it was detonated with a remote-controlled device, and less than one kilogram of explosives along with ball bearings was used in the bomb.

The blast targeted a group of around 200 people who were attending an annual religious festival at the shrine named Peer Chan Badshah in Pindorian, an area in the outskirts of Islamabad.

The explosion that left a big crater on the ground has spread panic in the nearby residential areas. Police and paramilitary force Rangers had cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the miscreants.